“Come on,” Belinda called to him.
He didn’t need to be told twice. He swung himself up onto the angled root, grabbed for a liana to help pull himself up and swatted at yet another insect trying to eat him. This one was a big black ant, about an inch long and unafraid. He squished it and hauled himself up the last few feet to the branches.
Then he stopped dead. The spot on his leg where the ant had bitten began to tingle and burn. He looked at Belinda, who was eyeing him with worry, clearly aware something was wrong.
“What? What is it?” she said.
The rain wasn’t as heavy here, in the shelter of the tree, but it still ran over her face as though she was standing under a shower. Beast felt a surge of pain rush up his leg and looked down at the spot where the ant had bitten him. His calf muscle had large red splotches on it now, and when he touched the area, it was solid. Even a brush against the red skin was agony.
“I was bitten by an ant,” he said as he broke out in a sweat.
She paled. “What did it look like?”
“Long, black, about this size.” As he held up his fingers, he became lightheaded. A sudden rush of white-hot pain blasted through his body, making him double over in agony.
“Oh, this isn’t good, this really isn’t good.”
He vaguely registered Belinda’s voice as he struggled through the pain. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Blinding, all-consuming agony. His muscles spasmed and tingled. He felt nauseated and lightheaded. When the wave passed, he was left panting and clinging to the tree.
“John?” Belinda said gently. “Honey, I think you’ve been bitten by a bullet ant.”
He worked to focus on her face as another wave of pain overwhelmed him. He rode it out as he gasped for air. When it passed, Belinda was holding him tight to keep him on the branch.
“I have to tie you to the tree. Otherwise you’ll fall. Can you sit back against the trunk? You have to help me. We need to get you settled fast.” Her face softened. “I’m so sorry, John. This is going to be bad.”
Beast wasn’t sure he could move at all, but he clenched his jaw and
inched into position, just as the pain overwhelmed him again. He had to close his eyes as the world tilted. He thought maybe the trees were leaning towards him, and it was hot, so damn hot. His skin was on fire. When he’d ridden through the pain, he found Belinda had tied several nearby lianas around his waist to hold him against the tree.
“What?” he managed to get out. He wanted to know what the ant was. He wanted to know if the bite was deadly. He wanted to know who would watch over her if he was gone.
Another wave of pain hit him, and he couldn’t say anything else. All he could do was moan through it and make it to the other side. When he opened his eyes, Belinda was right there.
She brushed his hair back from his forehead. “This won’t kill you, honey. I know it feels like it, but I promise you it won’t. I think you were bitten by a bullet ant. It has the most painful insect bite on the planet.” She bit her lip as he felt another wave begin to build. “It can take up to twenty-four hours for the poison to work its way out of your system.”
Beast let out a howl of curse words as his body spasmed again. He was shaking hard now, and the constant throbbing in his leg made him feel like it was going to explode.
“There’s nothing we can do but get through it. Oh, John, I’m so sorry.” She pressed his forehead to her breast and held him tight as spikes of pain pulled him under.
He didn’t care what she told him. He knew he was going to die. The venom was going to rip him apart. He couldn’t open his eyes anymore, as when he did, he hallucinated. The jungle was moving, closing in on him, pressing against him until it squeezed him flat and he couldn’t breathe. He was grateful for the bindings, because staying upright on his own was not an option. With another grunt, he doubled over as far as the ropes would allow, as, one after another, the muscles throughout his body began to cramp.
When it passed, his head fell back against the tree and his eyes remained shut. All awareness of his surroundings was gone. All that remained was endurance, getting through each wave of pain as it built and crashed within him. There was nothing else. Nothing at all.
Chapter 19
Belinda was crying. Her tears merged with the rain and disappeared into the forest below. She’d managed to strap John to the tree, even though he weighed at least a hundred pounds more than she did and all of it was tense, pained muscle. It was agony watching him suffer, knowing there was nothing she could do about it.
The pain of the venom had stripped away his reason and his defences. She knew he would have hated her seeing him like this, helpless and weak. Each time a wave of venom worked its way through his body, he convulsed, grunting and moaning in agony. She knew he didn’t see her any longer. He probably wasn’t even aware he was still in the rainforest. Every now and then, he muttered something, but most of it was incoherent.
Belinda wiped at her face, but it was pointless. The water flowed over her in one continuous deluge. The light was fading fast, and the greens of the forest were losing their colour, turning to the shades of grey that made up twilight. Belinda fished into their makeshift pack and came out with the empty water bottles and condoms. She used the travel-sized dental floss from her handbag to tie a large leaf down at an angle, to funnel water pouring off the tree into the bottles. They filled up fast, and she was able to fill all of the condoms while there was still some light.
“Lying bitch,” John muttered. “Lying, lying liar liar liar…”
Belinda scooted along the branch and pressed the water bottle against his lips, grateful that there was still enough light to guide her to his side. The last thing they needed was for her to fall out of the tree.
“Sip,” she said. Even with the water soaking them, she could feel John’s skin burn and knew he had to be sweating from the pain racking his body.
She’d expected to have to force him to drink, but he gulped at the water, emptying the bottle in no time.